


Getting to Know You

by aurilly



Category: Heroes (TV)
Genre: F/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2007-12-28
Updated: 2008-01-24
Packaged: 2017-10-03 01:35:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurilly/pseuds/aurilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mohinder and Elle are whisked to Japan where they make house, make friends, and fall in love. In that order. Molly approves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mile High Club (but not like that)

**Author's Note:**

> Unfinished because this was my first effort at writing fic, and I accidentally wrote myself into a plot corner (but it gets far enough to have some resolution).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mohinder and Elle ride the company's private jet from California back to New York and talk. They cheer each other up.

I had been looking at the floor since the moment Elle and I had boarded the company's private jet. Bob was sending us back to New York while he and Bennet stayed in California. Bennet had all but spat in my face before I left. I had never felt so horrible about myself, not even when I had failed to kill Sylar, leading to Peter Petrelli's murder (I never did find out how he had survived only to die again when he exploded in the sky). I had killed Bennet, revived him, and gotten him drafted back into a job and a life he loathed. Even if it was for the greater good, it still was a personal nightmare for him.

Even the childish glee I got from riding in the jet couldn't distract me from wanting to drop dead. It made me feel like the secret agent I had obviously ceased to be. It made me feel like I was in an episode of Matt's favorite show, the one with the double-agent father-daughter team. Matt said I was like the inept, worry-wart desk-guy-turned-field-agent love interest, and he was the chubby best friend stuck back in the office. Right now I was thinking that Matt was definitely the hero, and I wished I had never left my desk job. As for love interests, well, there were none, especially not any---I think the word he had used was 'ass-kicking'?---ones.

I was looking within myself to figure out how I had become the kind of person who shot people in the face in front of their children. I felt as bad as Sylar, killing Molly's parents in front of her.

"You never meant for him to die. You knew we had Claire's blood. You're not Sylar."

Elle had leaned over to touch my knee. She was among the last people with whom I would have wanted to have a heart-to-heart about recent events, but now that she had started the conversation, I was glad that she had. I hadn't been alone with her much yet (most of our interactions had been either bewildering or terrifying), but her last comment showed that she was more insightful than she let on.

"But what if it hadn't worked? It was only a crazy idea. We weren't sure. I made Claire watch her father die. I can't think of anything more horrible." Now that I had actually put it into words, I found myself having to struggle to keep the tears back. I didn't want to look girly and weak in front of "the executioner." She was clearly the type who would never let me live it down. I was still smarting from the "punching bag" comment of our first meeting.

"If you hadn't shot him, dad would have had me blast him, anyway, and then try the blood. And you did try to save him, to talk to him. That's more than me and my dad had thought of." Elle unhooked her seatbelt and moved across the space towards me. I braced myself for groping or a shock. You never knew with this girl.

"I broke up a family. I traumatized a young girl." I put my head in my hands, conscious of her wandering fingers trailing just the slightest of shocks across my chest and back. It was actually almost pleasurable.

"Don't forget that he shot me, too. You had to kill him to defend my honor," she said, dreamily.

"Um, if you put it like that…" I didn't have the heart to tell her that her honor had been the last thing on my mind. Not really wanting to talk about it anymore, I picked up my laptop and started pretending to do work. She finally got the hint and sat down again. When I ventured to glace up at her, she had turned to the crossword puzzle in The New York Times, and was sucking her pen in a way she clearly thought was very sexy and was hoping I would notice. I looked quickly back down. Yet, somehow, despite feeling like the worst person in the world, I couldn't help grinning to myself at her strange, innocent ridiculousness. Good thing she had finally started looking at the puzzle and not at me. I didn't want to encourage her.

******************************************************

"I'm in really big trouble with my dad."

After a half hour of silently staring at my computer while continuing to replay the previous day's terrors over and over in my head, I was glad she had started a new conversation. "Why? What have you done?" _Other than being a psychotic murderess_, I thought, but given that these were tendencies Bob seemed to encourage, I didn't think that was the problem.

"I kind of screwed up my job of watching Claire. She saw me and realized I was following her. I couldn't…" Elle tripped over the words. "I couldn't start the car to drive way before she saw me. I was all wet and…it's a big problem. He says that I've really let him down. He's taken me off field duty. That means I'm stuck at the facility again."

Despite my short acquaintance with Elle, I had never imagined her admitting any weakness or insecurity, especially to me, of all people. I had assumed she thought of me as a puppy, or toy, but maybe I was wrong. It was disconcerting, to say the least. I pitied, her, though. That facility was no place to live, and she was clearly dreading it.

"But it can't be your fault. How can you be expected to go on stakeouts alone in your condition? Or drive, for that matter?"

"He brought me up to be tough. He expects me to rise above the occasion. I was only adequate, and that's not good enough." _What a terrible way to raise someone_, I thought.

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you've been very brave and stalwart."

Elle looked up from the floor as if it was the first time anyone had ever given her a compliment. Maybe it was, now that I thought about it. The unmistakable adoration in her eyes made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I didn't like getting looks like that from psychotic killers with superpowers, especially when I was trapped in small spaces with them. It brought back feelings of déjà vu from the last dangerous, mentally unstable killer who had looked at me like that. She suddenly started giggling uncontrollably and blushing.

It occurred to me, though, that she was indeed a bit like the ass-kicking female agent, except crazier.

******************************************************

"Hey, Mo?"

I ignored her. I don't answer to 'Mo.'

"Mo!" I continued to stare at my laptop. A few seconds passed and I felt a shock on my knee, which made me jump. I glowered at Elle, who was posing as seductively as she could with one arm in a sling. A bit of blue light was still visible on her index finger. I rolled my eyes.

"What?!"

"Sorry to bother you, Mohinder Suresh, PhD." She was calling me Mo on purpose to annoy me, the vixen. "It's just that I only have one word left in my puzzle, and I think it's something science-y. Can you help me?" She handed me the paper and leaned forward expectantly. "42 down."

"This is the Saturday puzzle, Elle! The hardest one of the week. How do you do these without any assistance?" I asked, as I quickly filled in the name of an obscure type of cell function.

"I'm not stupid, you know." I got the feeling that I had hit a nerve.

"I wasn't intimating any such thing. It's just that I've never met anyone who could finish one. You have to know so many different subjects. Plus be able to understand the tricks and double logic involved in figuring out the clues."

"I used to spend a lot of time after class everyday researching the answers to the ones I didn't get the day before. They post the answers the next day. I learned a lot of random stuff that way."

Class? I had trouble suddenly trying to imagine Elle growing up and learning things. I think the fact that Bob hadn't mentioned a daughter until I met her and saw her blow up a glass of juice had made me think of her as a crazy Venus, sprung fully-formed and mostly naked from the hotel pool.

"Did you go to school in the city?" Even as the words came out of my mouth, I realized how impossible the concept was. Elle in a regular school was like a tiger in a petting zoo.

"No," she said, looking irrationally defiant. Then she softened. "I didn't really leave the company facility much without dad until a few months ago. I had loads of tutors, though, in all the subjects. Basically all the way through college-level stuff. They stopped a couple of years ago when I was 22. They gave me a diploma, sort of as if I had graduated from college like anyone else. Dad called it Primatech University. I know lots of things!" She started rattling something off in what I could tell was Japanese.

"I don't know what you're saying."

She giggled again like a little girl and looked inordinately pleased with herself. "I know something you don't know!" she chanted in a sing-song voice. She became serious all of a sudden. "Dad says you're like insanely incredibly smart. Will you teach me genetics? I learned lots of biology, but I don't think anything as advanced as you know."

I laughed at how eager she had become. For the first time, I felt a bit of a kinship for her. I guess insatiable thirst for knowledge is something we had in common. I had never expected it from her, though. "Sure, when I have some free time. It would be a pleasure to teach again. I'll need to look at some of my old lesson plans. I'm not all that smart, you know. I mean, I'm good at academics and science, sure. But I am a terrible judge of character, and I don't know nearly as much as I would like to know about subjects that aren't my specialty. Literature and history, for example. I always say I should read more, but I never find the time."

"Yeah, because you're too busy shooting people in the face." She had a knack of getting you to warm to her only to make you vulnerable and bring you down five minutes later. What scared me is that I was getting used to it. She certainly didn't even seem to notice that she had upset me, because she got a faraway and dreamy, yet sad, look in her eyes that definitely had nothing to do with the events at Costa Verde.

"I had the greatest history tutor in the world…"

"Oh yes? Who?" I wanted to be angry with her for that latest jab, but it was nice to talk about something else and stop thinking about Bennet.

"Adam. He was a prisoner for… oh before I was born. I think since the seventies."

"A prisoner? What did he do?"

"I don't know. They wouldn't tell me, and I think he knew he shouldn't tell me or else I wouldn't have been allowed back in his cell anymore. We were kind of each other's only friends. He was so nice and told such good stories, though, that I can't imagine it was anything so bad."

"He doesn't sound like a history tutor to me."

"Well, he wasn't an official tutor. See, he's been alive since 1645. When I was a little girl, he would tell me all sorts of stories about his adventures through the centuries. He's been in almost every war and met all of these famous people in history. It was really cool. He has an English accent, sort of like yours, but not quite as good."

I couldn't believe it. An immortal man. Now that I had finally met some of the people my father spent his life searching for, it seemed that every new ability I learned about was more amazing than the last.

"He must look terrible, being that old."

"Nah, he's super hot, actually. He never aged past 26. He kissed me once, you know. That's what I asked him for when I turned eighteen." She giggled, and then looked sad. "But he used it to distract me and try to get out. Dad was furious, and they stopped letting me visit him after that, except only every so often and with a guard. He has the same power as Claire---the healing thing. Which I guess means that Claire will live for hundreds of years and look the same, too. That's how daddy knew that Claire's blood would heal Bennet. Because Adam used it to heal Nathan Petrelli when Peter and Adam escaped a couple of weeks ago. Dad was so mad that Adam hadn't told us about his blood in all those thirty years."

My head was spinning. "Peter Petrelli? Peter Petrelli was being held prisoner at the facility? Peter Petrelli who is supposed to be dead?" There was definitely more to this company than I knew, and the more I learned, the more I didn't like. Why hadn't I listened to Bennet?

Elle clapped her hand over her mouth. "Shit! I wasn't supposed to say that. Please don't let on to dad that I told you." Elle was fidgeting and looking terrified of what she had said, and her eyes were pleading. Although I was desperate to learn more, I promised her that I wouldn't say a word. I had a feeling that even if I begged I wouldn't much more out of her, anyway.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, something clicked in my head. "Adam…? Your dad was telling me about someone dangerous named Adam Monroe. Is this the same man?"

She considered for a minute before answering. "Yeah, we lost track of both of them for a couple of weeks. I tracked Peter to Ireland, but he had disappeared by the time I got there. Dad was mad at me then, too. Adam spent that time killing some of the old company founders. I was in Ireland still, but I think you were there that day when they sent the mind guy to kill dad. I wish I had been there to save him. I would have been able to help." She looked very defiant.

"I'm sure you would have."

"Promise you won't tell?"

"I promise."

Suddenly she became very quiet. "Do you think he loves me?"

"Who? Bob?" This was a strange new turn in the conversation. "You're his daughter. I'm sure he does."

"Bennet was telling me things. Things about my childhood. Things I can't remember. Things he did to me. Experiments. I don't want to believe him. I don't believe him!" She slammed her slushio cup on the seat, and the last remaining sip jumped out and stained my shirt red. I was too disturbed by her confession to be annoyed that she had ruined my favorite shirt.

"What kinds of things?" I asked. However, it seemed that she immediately regretted letting that slip even more than she regretted letting the information about Peter Petrelli slip, because she resolutely ignored my questions. It was as if she hadn't said anything. That conversation was definitely over. She got out a napkin and started wiping me off in that strange groping way she has.

"I'm so sorry, Suresh" the girl-woman said, as she knelt in front of me. "But maybe it's for the best, you know? It's such a god-awful ugly shirt." I scowled at her. "Nice bitchface," she snarked. After a quick pause, we both burst out laughing. Why couldn't I be angry with her? She finished wiping me off and sat back down. I followed her with my eyes. Sharing a first laugh with someone is one of my favorite experiences. I don't make friends very easily, so it doesn't happen often.

"Stop looking at me like that."

I hadn't realized I was staring. "Like what?"

"Like you think we're going to be friends now."

Talking to her was like being on a roller-coaster. For starters, her responses to my inner thoughts were almost as spot-on as my telepathic roommate's. And secondly, for anyone else, this entire flight would have been about two people making friends. I could tell I was heading for another confession. They were coming fast and furious, but she kept stopping midway. I had no idea what could be coming next. "You don't want to be friends?"

"No. I'm going through a phase where I don't want any friends. As soon as I make a friend, they either die or use me."

"That's horrible, Elle. Who are these people?"

She fiddled with her seatbelt and turned to look at me piercingly. "Well, Adam and Peter for starters. They both used me to try to escape. I understand that now. Adam told me horrible things about my father the day he kissed me…"

"The same things Bennet was saying?" I couldn't help myself. I was curious.

She glared, angry that I had forgotten that she had closed that conversation. "No. Different horrible things. Which I also don't believe. That's why I stopped being in love with him. That and using me to escape." She said it as thought she had punished him that way.

"And Peter?" I was intrigued about this Adam person, but was still in shock that Peter was alive.

"Same thing. I really liked him. A lot. He was really cute, and he seemed so nice. But he kissed me, too, to distract me so he could escape with Adam. That was my first blunder that daddy's mad about. But we're not going to talk about that anymore," she added, when she remembered that she had closed that topic, as well.

"And who died?"

"Well, first there was Hana. She was this really pretty Israeli woman who was around years ago. She could talk through wireless things back before there was even much wireless. It was cool, but I never really understood her power. She always played with me until she stopped coming a few years ago, and then daddy told me she was dead. Then there was Eden, but you already knew her."

The name brought back a lot of memories. Mostly mysterious ones. "You two were friends?" I managed to choke out.

"Yeah, we trained for field duty together almost a year ago. She was really sweet. She used to tell me about your dad, and then you."

I gulped. "What did she tell you?" I hadn't thought of ever getting answers about Eden and here they were, completely unexpected.

"Well, she said your dad was nice old man, but wasn't getting very far. And she never understood why he never called you or said nice things about you." (_God, she's blunt_, I thought). "She was even more confused when she met you and saw how smart and nice you are. She really liked you. I always asked her why she didn't use her power on you to get you to kiss her, but she said that would be wrong. She never wanted to use it for anything, anyway, though, so I wasn't surprised."

"She had a power?" All that time, and I had had no idea. I couldn't even imagine what it had been.

"Yeah, if she wanted to, she could tell you what to do, and you would just have to do it. Like, she could tell you to go jump off a bridge, and you would jump. She didn't like to use it, though. Said it scared her. Sylar killed her, sort of." Elle squirmed, looking ever more like a sad little girl. I reached out to pat her arm, but she flinched.

"Bennet told me," I said quietly, so she wouldn't have to continue. I didn't understand how someone with such a powerful power had ever been defeated.

"And this morning, daddy told me that he thinks my friend Candice is dead, too. She trained after Eden finished. She's been in Mexico for months, though, I'm not sure doing what. Top secret. She said she wasn't even allowed to tell me. I wish I knew what happened."

We were silent for a second. I realized that I wasn't the only one who had had a terrible day. She had basically had a terrible existence. No matter what I said, it wouldn't be enough, so I went for the banal.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Elle. Well, given that I'm neither your prisoner nor a woman, I think you can trust me not to use you as a means of escape or die on you."

"Or you can look at it that you're both a cute guy and my work partner, so maybe you'll do both." She looked truly concerned, as if she were imagining me kissing her, running away, and immediately getting killed.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, we can be…" I tried to think of something that sounded grand. "How about colleagues with benefits?" I was bewildered when she cracked up laughing. After a while she collected herself enough to notice my confused expression, and then laughed again.

"Wow, you really have no idea what you just said, do you?"

"Well, we work together, and we are sort-of friends, so that is the benefit, right?" I had a feeling that maybe there was something I was missing.

"Um, right. Colleagues with benefits. I'd definitely be interested in that." She gave me a toothy grin that I think she thought was seductive and then turned back to start a new crossword. I made a mental note to ask Matthew if I had said something amiss.


	2. Lockdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens in the lab after Sylar runs away.

"Sylar's gone and my dad's going to kill me!" While Molly helped Maya wiped the blood on her bosom that I had felt uncomfortable cleaning, Elle thrashed around on the top of the stairs.

"I highly doubt that, Elle. If you hadn't come, Sylar would have slaughtered us all. You saved our lives."

"Really? Cool." She smiled shyly and looked pleased with herself. That adoring look was back in her eye. I kept forgetting not to say things that made her look at me like that. Her fear of her father came back, though and she kicked the wall again. "But he got away! It's my fourth failed assignment in a row!"

"Don't worry, Elle. I'll take the blame for it. I mean, it's my fault that he got away with the special virus cure and probably has his powers back."

"Seriously? He got the healing blood? Shit. Dad won't blame you. He'll blame me. You don't have any powers. I do. It was my job to take him out, and I failed. You did everything right. You even brought him here and activated the emergency code so I would see that he was forcing you to help him and run here from Hartsdale."

"You did amazingly, Elle. Honestly. None of us will ever forget this. I'll talk to your dad for you. What should we do now?"

"I'll go put the place in lockdown so Sylar can't get back in. Then I'll call dad. Stay here with Molly and…her." Elle looked at Maya with hostile curiosity. I had the feeling that she instinctively disliked strange females. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She was off like a shot, a tiny blonde streak down the hallway.

I turned to whisper to the girls. "I'm going to go in the corner and call Matt, ok? You two stay here." As I walked to a corner of the lab where the security system's video and audio system wouldn't pick me up, I considered Maya's position for the first time. All the abilities I had encountered so far had seemed like such wonderful advantages. Telepathy, flight, alchemy, telekinesis, electricity. This one had opened my eyes to how horrible and _random_ they could be. Black tears of death? I wouldn't have believed it if Molly and I hadn't almost died of it. Maya exuded warmth and goodness and deserved to live a wonderful life. I just couldn't figure out how she that was possible with such a curse.

I dialed Matt's number. He picked up, sounding breathless.

"Mohinder, I'm so glad you called! Huge things are going on…"

I cut him off. "Whatever it is, huger things are going on here. Sylar is alive. Yes, you heard me. He broke into the flat. He kidnapped Molly and myself. I got Elle to come and scare him off. Molly's fine."

There was silence on the other end for a moment, and then I heard a deep exhale.

"Oh my god, Mohinder. How could this happen?"

"I don't know. I think the company rescued him. They injected him with the strain of the virus Niki has, but he ran off with the cure. I can't believe Bob kept bringing Sylar up to me all this time, lying, knowing he was alive! How could they resurrect such a monster?" The full force of the day's events was only just hitting me.

"Mohinder. Mohinder, I need you to be calm. Where are you? Who is with you?" Matt had switched into cop mode, and I was thankful for that.

"I'm in the lab. I'm here with Molly, and a woman named Maya. It's a long story that I won't go into now, but she's innocent. Elle is somewhere about, putting the place in lockdown so Sylar can't get back in."

"So Bob isn't there?"

"No. I have no idea where he is. Elle seems to think he'll be here soon, though."

"Mohinder, I need you to listen to me. Big things are going down. I don't think you and Molly are safe there. The company's getting desperate. Did you know that they had the virus that could kill the whole world? The theoretical one you were telling me about? Not so theoretical. They've had it for over thirty years. Peter Petrelli---yeah, he's alive---was being manipulated by some ridiculously old guy named Adam---long story---into releasing it. But Nathan and I and this random Japanese guy stopped them. We decided to expose the company and the people with abilities before they could hurt any of us anymore. But during the press conference, someone shot Nathan in the chest. He's in bad condition right now. In the operating room."

"Nathan?" This had been a bigger day than I had thought, and I felt guilty for cutting him off before. His news was more shocking than mine. "Matt, I have an idea. You need to find Bennet's daughter. Get her blood. It will heal him. Trust me."

"Peter had the same idea. He's been babbling something about blood that can heal. I don't really get it. His blood doesn't work---I don't know why he thought it would. He says that Adam's blood would work, but he and the Japanese guy just disappeared. Peter's too hysterical to think straight, which is a shame because he has more information than I do. And we don't know where Claire is. He would teleport to her, if he knew where to go. Can you ask Molly?"

"Claire is in Costa Verde." While I called Molly over to verify that Claire was still at home, Matt filled Peter in on our situation. I gave him Claire's address, and despite the gravity of events, I couldn't help but silently marvel at the idea that Peter could teleport places. That was by far the most impressive power I had encountered.

"Great," Matt responded, once he had relayed it to Peter. "He just left. We don't think you're safe there. We think Bob and maybe even Mrs. Petrelli orchestrated the shooting. I think Bob's going to try to keep you and Molly there and maybe even use her to find Peter. Peter's their worst enemy right now."

"But I can't escape. The place is going into lockdown. And where would I go? Remember, Sylar could be anywhere. He knows where we live, and he's gone after Molly before. We may not be safe here, but we wouldn't be safe outside, either."

"Hm. You're right. I've been so frazzled by this Adam stuff and the company that I don't know how to fit Sylar into the picture. Geez. Before he left, Peter suggested an idea. I don't know if it'll work, and it might take some time. Just hang tight. Don't tell anyone you made this call, and don't let on that you know what happened down here in Texas, ok? Call me if you get a minute to yourself. Hopefully I can get you rescued. Gotta go. Kiss Molly for me. Keep her safe." He hung up. Matt could be so mystifying and frustrating. I had no idea what he was thinking or what to expect. It was still all up to me, as far as I was concerned. I walked back over to the girls and sat down. Molly snuggled into my lap and held me tightly.

"What did he say?" she asked, barely audible from inside my ribcage.

"He's glad you're ok and sends a kiss. He's dealing with a lot right now," I said softly. I decided that since I couldn't talk about the phone call, and I still didn't know what was going on, it was best not to tell them anything. I pulled Molly up to look at me so that she would understand, and also got Maya's attention since I knew I had to whisper.

"He told me to tell you two not to mention to anyone---not even Elle---that I called him, ok? Promise? Pretend I have just been sitting here talking to you the whole time she's been gone. Things might get a little strange, but I'm not sure." They both nodded, and Molly snuggled back into me. Maya was looking at me shyly.

"I traveled all this way, but this is the first chance I've really had to talk to you, doctor. You've seen my power, and how horrible it is. Gabriel said that you could cure me."

I listened to her lovely accent and felt sad. "Unfortunately, that was another lie. I'm still doing a lot of research, but I have yet to discover a cure for these abilities, or even a good inhibitor. There isn't much I can do except keep you sedated on a lot of drugs. It keeps you from using your powers, but it might wear off after a few years. I wish I had something more to offer."

She looked heartbroken and lost, and turned her head to the window. I didn't quite know what to do. I reached out and squeezed her arm. Elle came back a few seconds later. She flopped dramatically on the end of the cot next to Maya, cutting off the contact between Maya and my arm. It could have been intentional, or it could have been oblivion. It was hard to tell with Elle.

"I've finished the procedure. The only person who can get in is dad. I warned him that Sylar might be lurking, but he said he wanted to come anyway. He's furious with me, just like I knew he would be." Elle looked Maya up and down with a predatory glare.

"So… who are you? Are you like, Suresh's girlfriend? Because honestly, what with his living situation and the crush I know Sylar has on him, I had assumed he was gay." I was surprised that the reaction I had was not annoyance or anger at her rudeness, but rather disappointment. I knew she was upset, but I think our flight the day before had made me forget how socially backward she could be. I decided to intervene and make proper introductions, telling Elle about Maya's quest for a cure.

"Thank you so much for saving us. Your power is so beautiful to watch." That was the right thing to say. Elle's power was the thing she was proudest of, and she beamed at Maya.

"Why do you want to get rid of your power?" she asked bluntly, obviously confused as to why anyone would choose to be normal.

"I can't control it. When I get upset, poison comes from my eyes and kills everyone around me. I killed my whole village. I killed so many more on the road."

"Wow, that's kind of a sucky power. But I still wouldn't want to get rid of it." Elle turned to Molly with much more zeal. I think she felt slightly intimidated by Maya, but was more comfortable around children. "You must be Molly," she smiled. "I've heard a lot about you."

Molly looked up from my armpit, smiled wetly, and shook Elle's hand. "Thanks for saving us from the Bogeyman," she whispered. She had been crying quietly during the conversation. She did that sometimes when things got to be too much. Matt and I had learned to just hug her, let her cry in peace at these times and not to bother her about it. Elle seemed to instinctively understand, too, because she didn't comment on the tears.

I filled Elle in on the happenings of the day, and Maya added the details of her time with Sylar. I felt my stomach wrench to hear a story so similar to mine. Elle considered all of this and turned to me, looking defeated.

"They picked him up in Mexico. That's where Candice was. I guess she was supposed to be watching him and he killed her. That must have been her top secret project. They've been traveling for a week, but daddy only told me about Candice yesterday."

"Which means that your father had him rescued and knew he was alive the whole time."

We all fell silent, with our own worries, fears, and betrayals. Molly was the one to finally break the silence. Or actually her stomach did. I wanted to smack myself. In addition to being a terrible agent, I had forgotten that my daughter hadn't eaten all day.

"Are you hungry, Mollycoddle?" She nodded, and I got up to get some snacks from the fridge for all of us. No one had ever gotten to eat those chilequiles. I handed out some bottled water and fruit that I kept in a cupboard. We all ate quietly. I noticed that Elle looked incredibly uncomfortable in her sling.

"I think you dislodged your elbow while you ran. Would you like me to reset it for you?" She nodded, sadly, obviously still distraught by whatever Bob had said to her on the phone and grieving for her friend.

"He wasn't going to slaughter you, you know." Elle looked intensely into my eyes while I was fixing the sling.

"What?" I asked. She had a knack for bringing up subjects with no introduction.

"Sylar. He wasn't going to kill you. I mean, maybe he would have killed Maya, but not you. Thomspson told my dad everything about you and Sylar, and he's convinced that Sylar has a thing for you. Like, he likes you for some reason. You're the only person he hasn't killed on sight. And I know you weren't looking, but when I came in, he was actually halfway out the door. He was going to leave you alone. So I'm not that much of a hero after all."

I avoided her eyes and concentrated on the sling. I reemphasized the value of her heroics, but avoided the other part of conversation. Sylar's feeling of kinship towards me was none of her business and definitely nothing I wanted to discuss. Thankfully, she was too worried about Bob to care.

A few minutes after I finished the sling, Maya excused herself to go to the restroom. A few seconds later, we heard a noise and all jumped up. Bob barreled into the room, brandishing a gun. Elle tried to fling herself into his arms and apologize. He brushed her aside. I had never seen him look so dangerous. Bob had always been so placid and corporate around me. I felt like I was seeing the man for the first time.

"I am surrounded by incompetence. I have more than enough to deal with without deranged serial killers on the loose. You've let me down yet again, Elle."

This time I was angry. "Well then maybe you should have let him die the first time instead of sending him to a rest home with a young woman. Elle did the best she could, but at the end of the day, this is your fault. Organizations that rescue Sylar and inject him with viruses are not organizations I want to be a part of. I'm officially resigning."

"I'm afraid that's just not going to happen, Dr. Suresh. You see, we're going to need you to keep working here and doing whatever assignments I tell you to do. I also need you to construct a new virus that might work on Sylar. In addition, we'll need Molly to track down some people for us. A lot of people."

I adamantly refused.

"I try to make you think you have a choice doctor, but you don't."

Bob pointed the gun in my face. It was the third time that day that someone had done that. Molly's scream was unexpectedly joined by Elle's. She ran to me. Even more surprisingly, I felt that strange melting sensation in my organs that I remembered from the morning. I looked over at the bathroom door. Maya had just come out and was surveying the situation in horror. Her eyes were turning black. The stress was clearly too much for her.

"Please Maya, stop! Control it!" I felt myself echoing Sylar's words from the morning.

"Who is that? Is she doing this?" Through the haze, I realized that Bob, whose eyes were also black, hadn't even realized she was there. Maya whimpered in assent as she tried to bring her power under control. Elle fell down as I doubled over in dizziness. Three shots rang out. I immediately felt better and looked up. Maya had dropped to the ground, bleeding from two holes in her chest and another between the eyes. Molly screamed and ran to grab me. We gaped at the body. It was the second time we had watched that poor woman die that day.

"Our company policy has always been that some powers are too awful to continue in existence," Bob said in his calm voice, as if he had not just shot someone. He trained the gun back at me. "Now, back to where we were. Are you or aren't you going to cooperate?"

I didn't actually think he would shoot me. If I died, Molly would fall apart and not cooperate at all. He knew that. So I tried to argue him down.

"No, I won't. As soon as you leave, I would like to take Molly and never come back here."

The gun was back in my face. "That's a shame Dr. Suresh, as now Molly will have to watch another father die."

"Daddy, no! Don't kill him!" But it was Elle, not Molly, who screamed. A tiny burst of lightning shot across the room and almost caused Bob to drop the gun. He growled and pointed it at Elle.

"What was that? What did you just do?"

"No, I'm sorry…It was an accident. I didn't mean for that to happen. I got scared. I'm so sorry, Dad." Elle burst into tears and the sight was almost more terrifying than the gun.

"You haven't lost control of your powers since you were tiny. Is this the tough girl I've spent so much time raising? Only to have her turn against me to defend some stranger? And now you're _crying_? You've really fallen apart. You've become more of a liability than Suresh. I'm sorry to have to do this Elle, but I have no choice anymore."

I don't know what came over me, but when I saw him about to pull the trigger, I jumped in front of Elle. The shot rang out and Molly screamed.


	3. Something New

Strangely enough, nothing happened for a few seconds. As if in slow motion, I felt Elle and myself fall to the ground and lie there, waiting to either feel the bullet sink into one of our bodies or hear it crash into something else. But neither the crash nor the feeling ever came. Molly's scream had stopped in mid-sound. When I looked up, I saw Bob looking confused, the gun out of his hand, a bullet lying harmlessly and inexplicably by my elbow, and Molly nowhere to be seen.

"What's going on? What did you do? Where did she go?" Bob was tearing his hair out like a crazy man.

"I don't know!" I crawled off Elle and started calling out Molly's name. Where could she have gotten to that quickly? Elle sat up, shell-shocked, looking at Bob with big round, horror-stricken eyes.

"You shot at me," she whispered. Bob didn't even notice. He was too busy gearing up to tackle me.

As he was in mid-leap, more impossible things happened. I rubbed my eyes, because instead of having him land on me as I had been bracing for, Bob was suddenly tied up in the corner of the room. Elle had vanished. However, unlike with Molly, because I had been looking at her, I had actually seen Elle vanish, if that makes any sense.

"How are you doing this? Where is Elle?" Bob roared.

Now that Bob was disarmed and no longer a threat, I looked around suspiciously. Was Sylar doing this? This must have taken untold powers that I never even dreamed he had. I opened my mouth to repeat that I had no idea how this was happening when I felt a momentary lurch in my stomach and immediately realized that I was suddenly in a very nice, but foreign looking living room. A small Asian man in glasses took his hand off my shoulder and beamed at me.

I was so stunned that I fell over. From the floor I looked up to see Molly and Elle sitting on a sofa, Elle was cradling her arm and whimpering. Molly ran over to me joyfully, helped me up, and hugged my waist. As soon as I was on my feet, the strange man enveloped me in a bear hug that almost crushed Molly as well.

"When Matthew Parkman called, he said I would be rescuing strangers, but I know you! You are my savior! I have been wanting to meet you and repay you for saving my life, and now I have done it."

I had never seen this man before in my life. Why am I constantly surrounded by lunatics?

"I don't know what you're talking about, but thank you so much for coming to our rescue. You saved our lives. My name is…"

He cut me off. "…Dr. Mohinder Suresh. I know. My name is Hiro Nakamura. We met in the future. You saved my life. Actually, you helped save the world. You stopped the Haitian. You showed me the book by Mr. Isaac. You helped me get back to my own time so I could stop the Bogeyman." He looked over at the wall where a samurai sword was hanging.

Sometimes when situations become too insane for me to comprehend, I just pretend that the crazy things haven't been said and continue the conversation in a normal way. I wasn't sure if he had already introduced himself to the girls, and figured that might be a good way to get things back on track. "This is Molly Walker," I offered, pointing to the mass of hair at my waist. Hiro bowed very low and grinned at her.

"Very nice to meet you, Molly." He may have been a lunatic, but he was clearly a good person.

"Very nice to meet you, too. Thank you for saving Mohinder. That man was going to kill him." She bowed, and he patted her on the head.

"And this is Elle Bishop," I said as I gestured towards the figure in the corner.

"Hey," she said disaffectedly, and looked away. Hiro started to walk towards her, but thought better of it. I noticed a little burn hole in his shirt.

"Now I know how Peter Petrelli was able to electrocute me." He faced me again and beamed some more.

Hiro Nakamura. So this was what Matt had been talking about. The name and the sword rang a bell. I remembered the man who had appeared in Kirby Plaza out of absolutely nowhere and disappeared again after skewering Sylar with a sword. Peter had addressed him as Hiro.

"Thanks for coming after us. How did you manage all that?"

"I am able to teleport and travel through time. It was difficult, because I had to hide in another room, stop time, run in, and then teleport you here one by one, so that the man wouldn't find out about me. It was a close call. By the time I got there the bullet almost hit you. It was very noble of you to sacrifice yourself for the woman you love. But I know from the future that you are valiant like that." Hiro looked from me to Elle and smiled knowingly. Too bad he didn't know a damn thing. I realized then how traumatized Elle was, because this was the sort of comment she would have had a field day with, but right now, she just looked at Hiro blankly.

I asked Hiro what he had done with Bob.

"I left him tied up. He can't move. Later I'll tell Matthew Parkman and Peter Petrelli where to find him and they'll decide what to do. I'm sorry I was unable to save the other woman. Was she a great friend of yours?"

"No, we only met her today. It's a shame. She... she had a really horrible life. I wish there was a way to bury her properly. Although… can't you just go back in time and save her?"

"I have learned that my power doesn't work like that. I can't reverse the deaths of people who have already died by my own personal timeline. I can just help prevent the deaths of people who might die in the future."

"Oh. I see." I didn't really, but I didn't know what else to say. There was an awkward pause.

Elle interrupted, "So, where are we?"

Hiro was obviously thrilled that she had finally said something. "You are all in my father's house in Tokyo. It is my house now that he is dead. Was murdered." A darkness settled onto this cheerful bundle of energy.

Nakamura…Matt's case. This was all so interconnected that it made my head hurt. "Was your father Kaito Nakamura?"

"Yes, he was murdered by a man named Adam Monroe a couple of weeks ago." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elle stiffen. "But I have made sure that he can never hurt anyone ever again. Matthew asked me if you could all stay here until the Bogeyman and the company are stopped. He said that they'll all be looking for you. But since he doesn't know my name, or anything about me, I think you will be safe here."

Molly looked up at me worriedly. "How long until we can go home again?" she asked.

Hiro answered before I could think of anything. "As long as it takes. Months, maybe. I'm sorry. But we can make you very comfortable. There's more than enough room here for all of you. Think of this house as your own home. I will probably be with Peter Petrelli and Matt most of the time, but I'll come visit. We'll figure it out. First, let me get my friend. His English is better than mine. I will explain everything to him." And without any more warning than that, he made a funny face and then vanished. I was left with a confused Molly and a prickly Elle.

I took Molly's hand and led her over to where Elle was sitting. She looked like she needed a hug, so I tried to put my arm around her. She shrugged me off.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"What do you think?" she snapped. "My dad tried to kill me. Bennet was clearly right about him. Practically everyone I've ever known is dead or really horrible… or hates me. Now I'm stuck halfway around the world with a bunch of strangers. You're the only person I know, and we only met a few days ago. And I keep getting hair stuck in my fucking cast."

Molly impulsively jumped up and gave her a kiss. Elle tensed, but then allowed her face to relax, and kissed her back on the top of the head.

I tried to think of something cheerful.

"Hey, at least you get to practice your Japanese. You're the only one of us who can speak the language, so you'll have to be our link to the world." I could tell that she was simultaneously flattered and terrified by that idea. She looked up at me seriously, as if something had just sunken in.

"You jumped in front of a bullet for me. Why?"

"I don't know. Gentlemanly instinct, I suppose. Please don't think about it." I didn't want to go from cute guy status to knight-in-shining-armor status. Imagine the looks she'd give me then.

Elle looked from me to Molly and back again.

"You guys are really nice." She said it as though it was the first time she had ever thought that about anyone.

At that moment, Hiro appeared, accompanied by a friendly-looking Japanese man with spiky hair. The new man's eyes became globular when he saw me, and he pointed.

"It really _is_ him!" The awe and gratitude in his voice made me wish I could see what it was I must will have done… have will must do…? I remembered loving _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ as a boy and reading the chapter about how the most difficult part of time travel is the grammar. It was a great idea, but I never dreamed it would become an issue in my life.

Hiro introduced the man as his best friend, Ando. He shook my hand vigorously and grinned. His eyes turned to Elle, and if possible, got even bigger, but not with gratitude. Hiro stood behind Elle, facing Ando, trying to warn him by making hilarious zappy gestures, but Ando ignored him. My stomach clenched, I'm not sure why. Elle saw the admiration in Ando's eyes and perked up. When she addressed him in Japanese, he almost fell at her feet. Hiro finally wrested Ando's attention away from the blonde and introduced him to Molly. They bowed and smiled at one another.

******************************************************

The next few hours were filled with talk and tea. Molly and I told Hiro and Ando about ourselves and vice versa. It was clear that Matt and I had known very little about the events leading up to that night at Kirby Plaza. I tried to fill in for Elle, who was being very quiet.

We called Matt from a secure line to tell him we were ok, and I let him talk to Molly and Hiro. Claire's blood hadn't worked on Nathan. I hypothesized that it would only work on the same person once, and started to remember some interesting properties about the blood that I had noticed the day before but hadn't had time to research further that backed up this theory.

Modern medicine hadn't failed us, however. The operation had gone well, and Nathan was in a recovery room. Peter and Matt were huddled together in Nathan's hospital room in case any company members, or Sylar, having read a newspaper about the incident, came looking to finish Nathan off. Molly volunteered to track Sylar. He was still in New York, but no one felt equipped to go after him yet. Nathan and the company were still top priority. Hiro said he would go meet them the next day once he had set us all up in Tokyo.

Matt called Niki's house for me to apologize without telling her the whole story. It turns out that Niki had died while I would have been on the flight to New Orleans anyway. That poor woman had never been able to catch a break.

The last piece of news was that Bennet, who remembered how to override the lockdown procedures from his days with the company, had broken into the facility and killed Bob before Peter and Matt could get him in the loop.

When Elle heard this, she asked Molly brightly to play ping-pong with her in the basement. Molly took her hand and they went downstairs.

******************************************************

By the end of the day, a whole new life had been arranged for us. Calls had been placed for Molly to interview at the American School in Tokyo the next day, and a wad of cash and the number of an English speaking chauffeur had been left out so that we could get some new clothes and things we would need.

But the most amazing of all the crazy coincidences of the day was that Hiro's father had been the head of Yamagotu Industries, which owned the genetics firm my ex-girlfriend Mira had almost convinced me to take a position with in India. When I mentioned this, Hiro and Ando became very excited and started blabbering in Japanese. I waited for them to calm down and speak English again. When they didn't, Elle turned to me and said dryly, "Hiro's going to tell his sister to get you a job at the new Tokyo genetics branch. He says you can head it up. He also thinks you have the power of perfect hair. Apparently in the future, it was like, even more amazing. I'm not really sure what that has to do with the job, though."

It was first thing she had said in hours. It elicited even more smiles from Hiro and Ando. They said something to her in Japanese, and she burst out laughing.

At that moment, I got the feeling that things might be ok, after all.

I wondered if they had been talking about my hair. I wondered what it had will have (?) looked like.

******************************************************

The maid led us to three adjoining guest bedrooms, which all had some tee-shirts and shorts laid out for us---some of Hiro's things, I assumed, until we could buy new pajamas. She tried to take Molly into the first room, but Molly held on to me tightly.

"I want to stay with you tonight. Can I?"

The woman seemed to understand and ushered me into the room with Molly. Elle stood in the hallway, looking lost. The woman bowed to her and led her to the next room. I said goodnight and shut the door. While Molly brushed her teeth, I changed into the pajamas. Molly came out wearing her tee-shirt, which adorably came down to her knees like a dress. She jumped into the bed with me.

"This is a palace," she said, as she pulled the covers over herself, readying for sleep. "It's really nice. I don't think I'll mind staying here for awhile. I don't think Matt would like it, though. Everything's so small. And I haven't seen a single television in any of the rooms I looked in."

There was a knock on the door and Elle's face peeked in.

"Would it be alright if I stayed with you guys? I can sleep on the floor if you want."

I was still considering, but Molly's eyes had started to shine.

"No! Come sleep in the bed with us! On the other side of me. It'll be like a Molly sandwich. My Mom and Dad used to do that sometimes when I was scared. It was fun. I tried to get Matt and Mohinder to do it, but Matt refused. We're all scared tonight, so it will be good for us." Molly turned to me with those irresistible eyes. "Can she, Mohinder? Please?"

I was too tired to refuse two frightened females. I nodded my head to tell Elle to climb in. Thankfully it was a queen-size bed. Her feet brushed mine below where Molly's ended.

"Gah, Suresh, you have icicles for feet. Want me to shock some warmth into you?" This is what I had been afraid of. The old naughtiness had returned to her tone. I wasn't sure whether to sigh because the old Elle was coming back, or be glad that she was starting to feel better.

"No thanks." We were silent and I felt Molly drift off into slumbers.

A thought occurred to me.

"Elle?" I whispered. "Do you send out shocks in your sleep?"

"I don't know. I've never slept with anyone before."

"Well, do you ever wake up and find the sheets singed?"

She thought for a minute.

"Not since I was eight."

"That's good to hear. But, if you don't mind, I would feel more comfortable if I slept between you and Molly tonight. I don't want her accidentally getting hurt."

I gently pulled Molly's sleeping body towards my side of the bed. Then I crawled in between her and Elle and hugged Molly close to me. I felt Elle's back stiffen as it touched mine.

"I never really thought about what I do in my sleep before. I guess it's a good thing that I don't give out shocks at night. That would really destroy what little chance I have of ever getting laid."

I almost choked. "Elle," I whispered, viciously, "you're going to have to be around Molly a lot in the foreseeable future, and I would appreciate it if you didn't use that kind of language around her."

I could almost feel her eye roll in the dark. "Yes, _mom_."

I wanted to protest, but I _was_ acting like a mom. To a grown woman only six years younger than myself. And I should have given her more credit. Now that I was thinking of it, despite her unpredictable outbursts, Elle was actually pretty good with Molly. They seemed to silently understand one another.

I was just about to doze off when I got the feeling she was about to say something.

"Mohinder?"

"Yes, Elle?"

"Can I hug you like you're hugging Molly?"

I wanted to tell her that it was ok only if she meant it in a friendly way and not a sexy way, but I didn't know how to say so without hurting her feelings. I decided to go for it and shake her loose if things became inappropriate.

"Sure."

I felt her turn around in the bed and then her arms grasped my chest as she snuggled closer to my back. She felt very warm and soft. I hadn't slept next to a woman or been held by one in a really long time; I had forgotten how comforting it is. It was very different from staying with Molly while she got over her nightmares. I could feel Elle's body relaxing around me, her long hair tickling my neck. One of my hands was in an awkward position, and I found myself unconsciously taking hold of the one she had laid on my chest. In a few minutes, I heard her breathing become the gentle rhythmic breathing of sleep, and soon I was asleep, too.


	4. I Think I'm Turning Japanese, I Really Think So

The next day, after my job interview, I bought a Fodor's guide and asked the driver to take us all around town. Molly took turns sitting on our laps so she could look out the window. Luckily, it was the end of March and we were able to see the cherry blossoms at Ueno Park. As we walked under the pink canopy, I think we all fell in love with Tokyo. Over lunch, Elle and I introduced Molly to sushi. She had a normal ten year-old's reaction to it, but made an effort when she saw how much the two of us liked it.

Elle and I fought about clothes. Why does everyone hate my taste? I think I look fine. Elle had never hid the fact that she hated my wardrobe. We went to a department store called Isetan that had what we were looking for. She picked out some dresses for Molly, and set to work on me. It was a painful process, and she kept trying to peek at me through the door hinge until I told Molly to distract her outside the dressing room.

I fought back when she got to the lingerie section. She kept trying on slinky nightgowns and insisting on getting my opinion. I felt like an uncomfortable teenage boy again, and wasn't sure where to look. In the end, I finally forced her to buy some regular, non-sexy pajamas by reminding her that she had made me buy a whole lot of solid-color shirts and non-cargo pants. I did learn the fascinating fact, however, that cleavage depends on the bra, not the blouse.

That night, we were all exhausted, but with the good kind of exhaustion that comes from exploring a new city, setting up house, and sharing a lot of laughs. It had been an exhilarating day, punctuated by silences when the thoughts and fears we were all trying to avoid crept back into our minds. Sylar, Bob, Maya, Nathan, the danger Peter and Matt were in, the future… everything. It was all too recent for us to do anything more than repress, and I was glad for all our sakes that we had so much to distract us.

********************************************

Matt called almost every day to talk to Molly. Nathan had recovered enough to go home. Matt had gone to stay with them. He was still working with the NYPD, but also had ties to the FBI on the side, through his old partner, Audrey. Sometimes he briefed me on what was going on with Sylar and the company, but the briefings were short. It didn't seem like they were getting anywhere. Mrs. Petrelli was untouchable. They suspected that she was working with one of the other company founders, but they had no idea who, and Molly was unable to locate any of them. Matt occasionally asked Molly to look for Hiro and Ando, as they would disappear from our timeline from time to time (apparently Hiro's power wouldn't work properly all the time). He also asked Molly to look Sylar up every so often. He was usually in New York, and sometimes in our old flat. No one knew how to face him, so they just avoided him and barricaded together. We never got the kind of news that made it seem like we would be going home anytime soon. I wished I could help, but I didn't know what to do.

The three of us learned how to recognize when the others were feeling scared and how to comfort one another. Molly would get quiet and start to cry, and I would hold her. Elle would become bitchy and rude, and Molly would give her a kiss and get a tiny, gentle shock in return. I furrowed my brow and withdrew into myself until Elle said something ridiculous to make me laugh. We were a good team.

********************************************

My first day at work was overwhelming. I was adept at the kind of work Yamagotu Industries wanted me to lead (research to develop medication for genetically-based diseases), but I had never managed people before. There was a staff of fifteen under me, all eager and impressed by the bio Kimiko Nakamura had written for me. I was working on my Japanese, and they were working on their English. Thank goodness science practically has its own language. However, even so, it would have been a disaster if not for my assistant, Yuko.

Yuko terrified me. I had found Kimiko vaguely terrifying as well, but I once caught her giving me a Hiro-like twinkle when she didn't think I was looking. Yuko had no such twinkle. She was capable, bilingual, and a perfect administrative assistant. She had me organized about things that I didn't even know I should be organized about. She was perfectly unflappable. I think I could have come in bloody from murdering someone, and she would calmly take care of it.

After work, I picked Molly up from her first day at school and met a couple of her teachers. When we arrived home, the two of us were bursting with news. All evening, Elle asked all the right questions and was engaged, but I could tell that something was wrong, so I asked what the matter was.

"I want to do something, too."

"What are you talking about?"

"Today I sat around and watched _Friends_ dubbed in Japanese. Then I took a walk. I was so bored."

I felt terrible. It had been her first day without us, and of course she was lonely. It had never occurred to me that Elle would want a job or something regular to do. I thought of her as exempt from day-to-day life, which of course, had always been her problem. Hiro had been so proactive about making sure Molly went to school and I had a job, but now that I was thinking about it, I think he was still under the assumption that Elle and I were involved, because he had made comments about my need to "support the ladies." I decided to call Kimiko the next day.

********************************************

A couple of weeks passed peacefully by. For the first time in a very long time, I felt like I was living the sort of existence that normal people live. Molly loved her school. Elle had gotten permission to take classes at University of Tokyo and was surprisingly focused on her studies. If she did well, she would get credit that could be used towards a degree. Kimiko had also found her a part-time job at the PR department of Yamagotu, doing translation and planning events. Elle loved it.

I had a great job, with amazing pay and work that would help a lot of people. However, every so often, I would get a pang of regret for the things I had been working on in New York, but I quickly snapped myself back to reality. Bennet, Bob, and Matt had all made sure that I knew just how incapable I was at handling the kinds of situations that for some reason seemed to follow people with special abilities. But did they, though? It was hard for me to believe that every person with special abilities was plagued by tragedy and world-changing destinies. Dale the mechanic had been happily living with hers in secret until Sylar had come along. Monica seemed to be doing fine. I vowed that I would get back to that project one day soon, when things had calmed down a bit.

In the meantime, I was becoming curious about Elle's power. One evening while the three of us were working in the living room, I remembered to ask her about it.

"Have you ever used it to do anything else?"

"Like what?"

"Something other than shocking people. I know you have experimented with different voltages and different ranges---"

"---You mean my dad experimented." She interrupted.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I suppose what I'm asking is if you've ever used it for different applications. Such as powering equipment, or maybe even de-powering something that runs on electricity, or… oooh!" I got excited." Can you create different currents? Maybe switch between alternating and direct?"

She laughed in my face. "Oh my god, you're _such_ a geek."

She didn't say anything else, and I felt a bit embarrassed, but after that conversation, I sometimes caught her alone in the kitchen playing with cords and cursing at the electric range.

********************************************

One Friday evening, Elle was teaching me and Molly how to play a card game called Rummy 5000 when Hiro appeared in the living room bearing a startled-looking surprise.

"Matt!" Molly whooped and ran to him.

When Molly had finished her little dance of joy all around him, we hugged. Living with Matt was never something I had quite adjusted to, but it was nice to see him and I was glad to see Molly so excited.

Elle smiled brightly when Hiro bowed to her and enquired after her health, but her shackles went up whenever she looked at Matt. I knew her well enough by now to know that she did not appreciate this stranger's intrusion into her weekend time with me and Molly.

Hiro excused himself to tell the maid to prepare for a large dinner party and to grab Ando. I decided to bite the bullet and introduce Matt to Elle. I already knew they wouldn't get along, but it had to be done, for Molly's sake. I could almost hear the mental snarls.

Dinner was particularly awkward. Matt had eyes only for Molly, who graciously kept trying to involve all of us in conversation. Ando kept trying to hit on Elle, who didn't seem to understand, and was acting alternately shy and bitchy. Hiro regaled me with tales of his adventures in feudal Japan. It was actually a gripping story, and he told it with infectious energy, but I was distracted by the frustration I could see etched on Molly's face because Matt and Elle weren't hitting it off. As our plates were cleared, Matt tried to make Molly go upstairs so we could talk about serious business, but she started babbling something about orders and phoenixes and children always listening anyway. Hiro understood whatever it was she was referencing and insisted that she stay.

Nothing much was going on, as it turned out.

"So what does Peter do all day?" I asked, conversationally.

"Well, he sits and thinks and researches, sometimes…" Matt spluttered.

"Oh, you mean he broods. How…unsurprising," Elle quipped. Matt glared at her, but I could tell that he was annoyed because it was true.

The next day, Hiro went to catch up with Ando and his sister, and Matt and Molly decamped to spend the day together. It was the first time Elle and I had spent an entire day alone. She was surprisingly quiet and studied for hours while I made a lot of progress with my personal research on special abilities that I obviously couldn't do at work. Late in the afternoon, she asked if I wanted to go for ice cream. Ice cream turned into a walk, and the walk turned into her first cocktail ever and my first drink in ages. She asked me about boarding school and university in England, and she told me hilarious stories about how she used to try to escape and explore New York by herself whenever Bob took her to the city. We staggered back to the house just in time for dinner. She had started speaking in a fake British accent, and I was trying to sound nasally American. Molly giggled, but Matt looked disapproving. At least with a couple of drinks in us, Elle and I felt less awkward during this dinner.

********************************************

Just before he and Hiro left on Sunday evening, Matt cornered me.

"I know there's nothing I can do about it, but I don't like that girl spending so much time with Molly."

"Elle? She and Molly adore each other. And I think she's been a wonderful female influence in Molly's life. What's wrong with her?"

"What's wrong with her? Where do I even begin? Do you know that when I was trying to ask Molly about Elle, our ten year-old very calmly and deliberately described to me that Elle has _only_ killed _one_ person. That she only meant to torture him, but hadn't ever used a hurtful voltage on a non-regenerative and overshot, leaving him charred to a crisp? And then, when I understandably freaked the hell out, she went on to tell me that sometimes Elle gets embarrassed when she messes up, so she tries to act proud of what she's done, so that she doesn't seem weak and cry, and I shouldn't bring it up to her. Is this the kind of conversation and rationalization a girl Molly's age should be having?"

"Matt, think of what she's actually seen with her own eyes. I think it's probably good that she can talk about such things. Do you know that she's been talking more about her parents since we've been here? In a non-traumatized way? She never did that in New York, and I do think that something about Elle is helping her to deal with it."

"Mohinder, you're delusional. She's evil. If it had been up to me, she would have been left to rot in Hartsdale with Bob. Why do you trust her? Bennet told me all about her. Peter wants her dead. That guy she killed was his girlfriend's brother. She's dangerous and unhinged. I've even seen her throw lightening at you. Does she do that to Molly?"

"Don't be ridiculous. She would never zap Molly in any way that hurts. She can do this one very interesting kind of lightening that feels really good, like…"

"Please. Spare me the sick details. I get that you think it's good for Molly to have another woman in her life, but the thing is that she isn't like a woman. She acts like a little girl sometimes, and like a harpy the rest of the time."

"She only acts like that towards you because you've been so hostile. She's a little weird, yes, but it's just because she's been incredibly sheltered. She's been normalizing by leaps and bounds since we've been here and she's had to interact with more people. It's astounding. She's definitely a woman. I mean, look at her."

"Oh! So that's how it is."

"What do you mean?"

"It's doesn't take a mind reader to get that you think she's hot. And any idiot would notice how she looks at you."

I felt my face get warm. "No! I mean, obviously, she's a pretty girl, but it's not like that. She looks at everyone that way."

"Not me."

"Well, maybe you aren't her type."

"See? My point exactly."

I finally snapped. "For the last time, there's more to Elle than you are seeing. She's a good person who's had a hard and strange life. If there's anyone who understands daddy issues, it's us, so try to remember that she has them in spades. Molly enjoys living with her, and so do I. We're all as happy as we can be, given the circumstances. Don't take your frustration at having Molly so far away out on me." It was a nonsequitor, but I felt the need to say it, mostly because I didn't know how to counter his other accusations. I regretted it as soon as it came out of my mouth, though. Matt turned pale and stepped back, as if he were about to hit me.

"Watch it, Suresh. At least I'm actually doing something. I'm not living in some little anime fantasy world ignoring all my problems."

My eyes opened wide. We had both given low blows, and knew we should stop before it got further out of hand. We said a tense goodbye a few minutes later and then he and Hiro vanished.

********************************************

Even though things were falling very nicely into place, one thing hadn't changed. Despite the fact that there was nothing to fear, we were all still sleeping together. Every night, the maid set up the three bedrooms, but like clockwork, Molly would follow me into my room, and Elle would poke her head in a few minutes later to make a Molly sandwich that once Molly fell asleep, we changed to a Mohinder sandwich in which I held both of their hands.

I had tried to hide it from Matt, because I knew he would tear his hair out, but he had heard Molly's thoughts about it almost as soon as he had gotten there. As expected, he had been speechless with horror. Too speechless to find words to lecture me about it.

The parenting books Matt and I had read all said that children Molly's age shouldn't be allowed to sleep with their parents every night. I knew deep down that I should be firm, but I told myself that those books weren't written about children who had gone through what Molly had gone through, and I knew it wouldn't last forever, anyway. Elle was an adult and was behaving herself, so I told myself she could do whatever she pleased. And as for me… well, to be honest, I had no excuse for why the Mohinder sandwiches were starting to be my favorite part of the day.

That evening, while Elle was taking a shower, Molly snuggled next to me in the bed.

"Mohinder, is this what divorce is like?"

Perhaps I had been wrong in telling Matt that Molly hadn't been in any way negatively influenced by Elle's company; she had certainly stopped introducing her conversation topics.

"What do you mean, honey?"

"I used to live with you and Matt. Then you started fighting a lot. Then you and I moved away, and I only see him sometimes now. And he doesn't like your new girlfriend."

I was about to interject, but she put up and imperious finger and shushed me.

"I know she isn't your girlfriend, but you know what I mean. We all live together and she helps to take care of me like a stepmom---a really great, not-evil one, though! And now Matt lives with that guy who beat up the bogeyman---can I tell you a secret? I don't like that guy. Anyway, you two still fight and he tries to find out things from me about you and the new stepmom so he can yell at you about it. I heard him talking to you in the hallway. I wasn't trying to listen, I promise. So I learned this weekend that maybe I should keep some things secret. I was just thinking that this is like my friend Annette's family. Her parents are divorced."

I cursed myself for not including divorce books in the list of parenting books. I was not prepared for this.

"It isn't like divorce, since Matt and I weren't married. But you know that. And we aren't living apart because of anything having to do with us. It was all outside factors, like Sylar. However, you should never keep secrets from either of us, even if you think it will cause us to fight. We're mixed up in things that I'm sure Annette can't even imagine, and it's really important for us to communicate. And you shouldn't dislike people you've never actually met. That isn't fair."

"You don't like him either, do you?"

"Peter? I barely know him. Anyway, that doesn't matter, because Peter is being wonderful to Matt and is probably everyone's best hope to defeat both the company and Sylar. And we can't go back until that is done."

"That's the other thing. I miss Matt, but I don't know if I want to go back. I like it here. I feel safe here. It's not like we were there long enough for me to think of New York as home. Plus, Tokyo is really cool. I like my school so much better than my old ones. My new friends are nice. And I like that you don't go away on trips anymore that Matt thinks you'll get killed on. And I like that everything is in a new language. It makes life more interesting. I like Hiro and Ando. And I like this house." She caught me about to interrupt and shushed me again. "I know it's not our house and we can't stay in it forever, but I think I would like a smaller house in Tokyo that you could buy just as much if it had the same kind of furniture. And I don't care what Matt says, I really like Elle, and I want her to stay. Please don't let him make her go away?"

Ah. We had reached the crux of the matter. I could tell that she sincerely meant the other things, too, but they were merely the appetizers to the main course. I hugged her close.

"I'm glad you feel safe. That's the most important thing. And you know what? I really like living here, too. For similar reasons. And when…if we end up back in New York, I promise with all my heart that she'll stay a big part of your life. That is, if Elle wants to."

"If Elle wants to what?" a voice in the doorway asked. At that moment, Elle popped in, hair wet and pajamas disheveled. She crash landed in the bed, and Molly and I looked at one another.

"Go to the movies this week, all three of us," Molly said. Glad as I was for the rescue (I'm terrible at dealing with that kind of conversational situation), it had always pained me to see how slick Molly could be when needed. I think she learned it during her time with Thompson.

"Sure thing," Elle replied, and turned out the lights.

"Mohinder?" Elle interrupted my thoughts with a whisper, once Molly was asleep.

"Yes, Elle?

"You're not my work partner anymore."

"No, I guess I'm not. What of it?" After Molly, I didn't know how much more of this I could take.

"Well, we were colleagues with benefits, remember? But we aren't colleagues anymore, and even though we're technically sleeping together, it doesn't involve the kind of benefits people talk about."

"Oh. Is that what that was about?" I realized that with all the upheaval in our lives, I had never asked Matt what 'benefits' were. Now I was glad it was dark so she couldn't see me blush. Unfortunately, I suddenly felt her hand on my face.

"Haha! I can feel you turning red." That just made my face get even hotter.

"Stop it," I said, trying to sound tough.

"Anyway, I was wondering…"

It suddenly dawned on me what she was trying to say.

"Wondering what? If we could be friends?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Elle, we already are." Somehow I knew that she had overheard me arguing with Matt and this was her way of saying thanks for standing up for her. I held her hand again and we went to sleep.


	5. Mohinder and Elle Don't Go On A Date

I was doing some work in the living room while Molly did homework upstairs when I heard the front door open.

"Hey, Mohinder!" I instinctively dodged a harmless bolt of lightning that I could sense was headed for my shoulder. It was our daily welcome home ritual. I was starting to develop a sixth sense about her zaps. I looked up from my laptop to see an extremely giddy Elle.

"Yes, Elle?"

"I got asked out on a date!"

This was momentous enough for me to unconsciously shut the laptop.

"By whom?"

"This guy I keep running into at my slushy place by work. We've been there at the same time every day this week. First we just smiled. Then we waved. The day before yesterday we started talking, because the machine broke and we had to wait a long time. Then yesterday we walked together back to my office. He works at the law firm next door. Then today bought my slushy for me. He has black hair and blue eyes and one dimple. His name's Julien. He's French."

I was speechless. In less a month into her new life, Elle had managed to find herself in a perfect romantic comedy scenario, while I…well, let's not talk about it. I felt mysteriously jealous.

"Well, aren't you going to say something?" She shocked me out of my stupor. Literally.

"Ow."

"Other than 'ow.'"

"Um… that's wonderful for you. So when is the date going to happen?"

"Day after tomorrow. He's going to call me then with the details."

I lapsed into awkward silence once more. I should be happy for her. This was what she wanted, what she deserved. She was young and beautiful and intelligent and fun and she was finally starting to have a normal life. I knew I was being a bad friend by wishing for her to remain as lonely and dependent on me as I was lonely and dependent on her. Molly had made new friends, and just because I was socially inept didn't mean Elle should remain alone, too.

She was looking at me, her expression slowly changing from giddiness into utter panic.

"Mohinder? I have no fucking clue how to go on a date."

********************************************

During dinner, a crazy idea popped into my head and distracted me for the duration of the meal. I didn't mind, however, because it was better than listening to Molly and Elle gush. Molly was giving Elle all sorts of advice about men and relationships that she had learned from her ten-year-old friends. I couldn't tell if Elle was actually hanging on Molly's every word, or just trying to make her feel helpful.

"He must really like you, because he's going to take you out without first waiting three days to call. That's the rule you know, so the girl doesn't think he's stalking her." Molly was very earnest.

"Hm, but he did wait three days to ask me out."

"Oh, maybe that's the same thing. I'm not sure. What are you going to wear?"

"That's what I can't figure out. Because it'll be after work and I don't know if I'll have time to come home and change. What do you think about my blue blouse with the grey skirt?"

I officially stopped listening. It was times like this that I missed living with Matthew.

********************************************

The fact that I procrastinated on going forward with my idea until we were spooning in the dark made what I was going to do even more horribly awkward than it would have been otherwise. When I was sure Molly was fast asleep, I screwed up my courage. Why was I so scared? I didn't mean it like…

"Elle, I was thinking…"

"Yeah?"

"You know how earlier you said you don't know how to go on a date?"

"Mmhmm. It'll be ok, though, right?" The panic she had repressed all evening crept back into her voice.

"I'm sure it will. But I was wondering if maybe it would help if you went on a practice run first. You know, so you don't say something on the actual date with... what's his name?... Julien, that will destroy our cover. And also, so you'll feel more at ease. I mean, the three of us have been adhering to Molly's bedtime since we've been here. We don't know where people go on dates or what the scene is like."

"Wow, that's a great idea. I think I'll call Ando tomorrow. It's weird, I think he seems like he wants to ask me out, but he hasn't. So he would be perfect. But… do _you_ think he likes me?"

"Ando? Oh, yes. Definitely. Of course. It's obvious." This had not gone according to plan. I mean, here I was, not even actually asking her out, and I had already pushed her into the arms of another man. Maybe it was for the best. I had no business trying to prep her for this in the first place, since I clearly didn't know what I was doing either. But why did I feel so defeated? It wasn't even a real date. I think the flurry of worries in my head came through in my voice.

"Wow, you sound unenthusiastic. Don't you like Ando? He knows about us, so he'd be good."

"Don't be ridiculous. Ando is a great guy and has been a great friend to us. It's a really good idea. You're absolutely right. You should ring him tomorrow."

There was silence for long enough that I assumed she had fallen asleep. That had been an unmitigated disaster. I wanted to hit myself, but I couldn't with her arm wrapped around my body.

Then all of a sudden she was whispering again.

"Hey, you weren't trying to suggest that … that _we_ go on a date, were you?"

I gripped her hand more tightly so that she wouldn't feel my face and realize how hot it was getting.

"No, I mean, yes. But not actually a date, of course. Just a way for you to practice."

"Yeah, I know. That would be kind of fun." Her voice sounded distant.

"_Now_ who sounds nonplussed? Look, I want you to go with Ando. He'd be a hundred times better than me. He knows the city better and has probably been on more dates recently. And as we said, he's actually interested in you, so it would make for a better simulation."

Neither of us said anything after that.

What a terrible idea that had been.

********************************************

The three of us habitually ate breakfast silently at the table in the kitchen. I always read The New York Times international edition while Elle worked on crossword puzzles in the Japanese newspaper and Molly studied flashcards for her daily vocabulary quiz. Molly was the only morning person among us; over the past few months, I had learned to tolerate her cheerfulness, but Elle was still working on it. Therefore, I was dumbfounded when Elle actually spoke the next morning as she was on her way out of the kitchen.

"So, when are you picking me up?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"We're going out tonight, aren't we?"

Molly looked at us excitedly.

"Are you two going on a date?"

"No, of course not," I replied hurriedly. I turned to Elle. "I thought you were going to ask Ando out."

"Yeah, but I'd feel bad leading him on. And you're way hotter."

"So you _are_ going on a date!" Molly triumphantly interjected.

"No, we _aren't_!" I snapped, and got up to leave the room from the other door.

Molly bit her lip. "I'm confused."

********************************************

I had a hard time concentrating at work. Was she being serious? Did she really want to go out tonight? Even though I kept telling myself no, I had put nicer clothes on than usual---or at least, clothes that she had picked out for me. What had I gotten myself into? And what was I so nervous about?

At noon, Yuko came in to ask me if I needed anything.

"No, nothing thanks. Have a nice lunch break." She smiled and turned to leave, but I broke down and called her back. "Actually, could you make a dinner reservation for tonight? Somewhere nice. For two."

For the first time in our acquaintance, I saw Yuko look nervous, which didn't help my own panic. "Is it a business dinner or a personal dinner?"

I got flustered. "Um, business? But it, ah, it's with a female client, so I would prefer if it could be at the kind of place women like. Maybe somewhere kind of new and trendy."

"Certainly." I knew she knew I was lying.

I called Elle once the dinner reservation was confirmed. She was angry and didn't want to talk to me, but agreed to let me pick her up outside her office at six thirty. I was sweating so much that I had to change into a spare shirt. Things weren't off to a good start.

********************************************

Elle ran up to me, and kissed me on the cheek. Her nose was red and cold as it brushed against mine. She looked more gorgeous than usual. My nervousness tripled.

"Hello, there, dahling. You look marvelous," she trilled, anger forgotten.

I saw her finger getting ready to give me my daily welcome shock, so I grabbed her forearm and whispered into her ear.

"Elle, the whole point of this evening is to practice acting completely normally. No talk of people with special abilities. No talk of growing up in the company facility. Absolutely no electricity."

She pouted, linked her arm through mine and leaned on me as I led her to the taxi stand.

"Fine, spoilsport. Do dates always act like moms? Or just you? Where are we going? Did you bring me flowers?" Her hands started roaming over my coat, feeling the buttons sensuously. She had never done it in public before, and I felt self-conscious enough to comment on it for the first time.

"Why do you do that?" I asked, once I had given the driver the address.

She looked confused. "What? That? I don't know. I learned it from Fergie. Big Girls Don't Cry. Is it weird?"

"Yes, very. Who is Fergie? Why is she crying?"

Elle laughed. "Seems like I'm not the only one with things to learn."

********************************************

For the first time ever, Yuko had failed me. Elle could barely contain her excitement when she saw where we were. It was apparently a top-rated new restaurant, which would have been perfect if only we had had a reservation. The maitre-d had never heard of me or Yuko, and he scoffed when I asked if walk-ins were possible. I was about to leave, but Elle actually saved the day by bending over in front of him, getting in his personal space, and slipping him a wad of cash. I was simultaneously mortified and impressed. He magically found us a table.

"I'm so sorry. I really did think we had a reservation. My assistant made it today because I didn't know where to go."

"Who, Yuko? Did you tell her you were taking out a girl?"

"Yes, why?"

Elle doubled over laughing. "Mohinder, you're such an idiot. Not only for thinking that you could get a same-day reservation at this place, but also for not realizing that Yuko's madly in love with you."

"What are you talking about? Yuko is a consummate professional. She wouldn't sabotage a request."

"Then why does she tell me you're out when I call your office phone, even though you pick up your cell phone in the office two minutes later? She was halfway ok the first time I called you, but ever since I left that message saying Muji was having an underwear sale, she's been a total ice queen."

"Wow." Yuko? I was dumbfounded.

"Anyway, can we order cocktails?"

"Rule number one. Don't ask permission. Just order. It would be rude of your date to refuse."

She considered this and nodded to herself. "So, when was the last time you went on a date?"

I was hoping she wouldn't ask me this, but I wasn't going to lie. "I think maybe two years, at least. The last person I dated was my ex-fiancée, Mira. And it wasn't a proper date. My mom set us up. We sat in my living room and drank tea. We broke up a little less than a year ago."

"You haven't liked anyone in that long?"

"That isn't what that means. I've liked people since then. Sort of."

"Like who?"

It was times like this that I was glad to no longer live with a mind reader. I changed the subject. "Anyway, I doubt this is what we should be talking about, don't you think?"

"You keep shutting me down!" It was in fact the fourth time I had said that already, so she was right.

"You keep bringing up the most inappropriate topics! Like Hiro's time in old Japan. And your incredibly dubious trip to the shipyards at Cork. And tacky pop stars."

"Whatever, Mr. I-sing-Enrique-Iglesias-in-the-shower-when-I-think-the-girls-have-left-the-house. Yeah, you heard me."

Elle and I glared at one another, and then burst out laughing. Once we stopped, she continued, a little humbled. "Anyway, everything I can talk about seems off topic. I don't know what to do."

I felt bad for painting her into a corner, so I proceeded more gently. "Honestly, there's nothing wrong with talking about pop stars, except that I personally find it ridiculous. Also, I was thinking about something Molly said last night. Strange that I'm learning about men from a ten-year-old, but she was right that most men like to talk about themselves. Actually, tomorrow should be rather easy. Just ask him questions about his life all evening. Not only will he love you, but you won't give anything away."

"Then why have you been asking me about myself this whole time?"

"Because you already know me. I'm kind of boring, and I find you fascinating."

"Oh." She blushed. "I don't think you're boring."

We had that moment during dates or just before people drunkenly kiss where people fall silent, look deeply into one another's eyes and are painfully aware that they are doing so. She had beautiful eyes.

I forced myself to snap out of it. "Alcohol. We definitely need more alcohol. You're going out with a frog, so he'll probably want red wine or something, right?"

"Do you not like the French?"

"Elle, I spent 14 years in England. What do you think? By the way, can I ask a favor of you? Please never mention Enrique to anyone?"

"I don't think anyone would believe me if I did."

We did that looking thing again, which made my stomach go into knots, but somehow after that, things became a lot less awkward. I think we stopped trying to act like we were on a date, and started actually being on a date. It was like the day we got drunk while Matt was out with Molly, except even better.

********************************************

Elle and I finally stumbled home, drunkenly falling all over one another, and singing Escape.

"So, let's pretend we don't live together and take care of a little girl. If he is a gentleman, he'll walk you home, and here's the end of the date." I said as the conclusion to my night-long tutorial, although upon reflection, I think I had learned just as much as she had.

"Whew!" she exhaled.

"Don't do that tomorrow. You don't want to put him off by acting really excited to be done. I mean, unless you really do have a bad time with him. But there are still nicer ways to…"

"Mohinder, can I give _you_ a dating tip? You talk too much. You're fine during times when people are supposed to talk, like at dinner and stuff, but you go on too long at times like this. I said 'whew' because my feet hurt and I'm glad to be home. And anyway, it's only you."

Only me? That hurt. But I reminded myself that the whole point was it for it to be only me. And then it clicked. The reason I had been so nervous to ask her out, so nervous all day was because I _didn't_ want it to be only me. I'm sure it would have been completely obvious to anyone else ages ago, but I am _that_ clueless when it comes to this sort of thing. So I did the only thing I could think of. I snapped at her.

"I do _not_ talk too much!"

"Did you know that you're cute when you're defiant? No wonder all the bad guys like you," she smirked.

I ignored the comment. "Well, I… so, tomorrow. He'll say goodnight. Given that he's French, he'll probably try to get in the house and… but given our peculiar situation, I don't think it would be advisable…I mean, but maybe if what you actually want is…"

She cut me off. "Mohinder. You're doing it again." But she had turned bright red to match her already adorably red nose.

Maybe she was right. "Oh. Right. I think I do it when I'm nervous."

She held my arm and put her face really close to mine. There was a twinkle in her eye.

"Are you nervous right now?" She was so close that if she stuck her tongue out, she could have licked my face. I was a little nervous that she might.

"No," I replied. But I was. And now I knew why. I stared dumbly at her until she broke the silence.

"This is the part where I say what a nice time I had and then he kisses me, right?"

"Mmm, yes." I couldn't breathe. Ah, because she was still in licking range and her bangs were tickling my nose. But she didn't really want me, right? She wanted this Julien guy. Also, what would happen to our lovely living arrangement if something actually happened? This was by far the happiest I had ever been, and I was so scared to lose it. Petrified, actually. And Elle blew so hot and cold all the time that maybe if I actually tried to kiss her, she would smack me.

"I had a really nice time." She looked at me expectantly.

And then I did the dumbest thing imaginable.

I said, "Oh, me, too. I hope it helped you to feel more comfortable for tomorrow." I patted her on the shoulder and went inside. She stood in the same position for a few seconds before following me in.

We went upstairs without a word. For the first time since we had been in Japan, Molly had gone to bed before us, and was sleeping in her actual assigned bedroom, the door to which was shut. I stood outside my own room, not quite sure what to do.

"Well, see ya tomorrow." Elle paused also, and then turned to go into her own room.

"Tomorrow? So you're not…?" I stopped myself, mortified at what I had been about to ask.

"Can't sleep with a guy on the first date. I know that much," Elle simpered, but there was a strange look on her face.

_Oh god, not only did I sexually reject her, but now I've frightened her_. _What a fucking mess_, I thought.

"Ha. Aha. Hm. Well, Molly's asleep, so it's not like she needs..." Now that she had pointed it out, I _did_ babble nervously. "Anyway, goodnight, then." I all but fell into my room. Once the door was shut, I collapsed on the bed and stared desperately at the ceiling.

_Fuck fuck fuck. Bloody fucking hell_. What had I done?

After that night, there were no more Mohinder sandwiches.


	6. Frogs, Pheromones, and Fergie

I had been a double agent with the company. Never mind that I flat-out told Bob what I was doing. I had jumped in front of a bullet. Never mind that it had been time-stopped away. I had shot two men in the face. Never mind that neither time had it caused much of a result. The point is that I can be tough when I need to be. That said, I hid in my room the next morning until I was sure Molly and Elle had left the house. Molly poked her head in to make sure I was alright. I told her I had a stomach ache and would see her later.

Work wasn't much better. I spent all of my time with my team so I wouldn't have to confront Yuko. Bloody women. I had a pang of longing for those lonely days in New York when basically the only people I interacted with were men who didn't really like me. Yuko finally cornered me late in the afternoon to talk about my monthly expense receipts. When it was clear that I wasn't going to mention anything about the previous night, she broke down and asked me how it had gone. I smiled brightly and said that we had had a wonderful meal and that the client was thrilled. She looked confused but didn't say anything else. Hah.

******************************************

After dinner, I helped Molly with her science homework, and then worked on my own research while she finished her other subjects. We both pointedly did not mention Elle. I knew why I didn't, but in the back of my mind, I was wondering why she was quiet on the subject.

After about half an hour of silence I had a thought. "Molly? Do you know who Fergie is?"

"Who _doesn't_ know who Fergie is?"

"I don't. What's this song about crying?"

Molly gave me a strange look, but didn't ask me why I was asking. Instead, she logged onto Youtube and pulled up a video.

"I think this is what you're looking for." We watched it together while Molly explained to me the rise of Stacy Ferguson's career. The song was appallingly bad, but in a catchy way. Apparently, Molly and Elle found Fergie's boyfriend very cute. I was disturbed that Molly found _anyone_ very cute, but decided it wasn't the time to get worked up about it.

"So is this man her boyfriend?" I was trying to understand what Elle's type was. If she liked to touch me the way she touched this shirtless tattooed man, did that mean that maybe she liked me? Or did she like shirtless tattooed men? Or was she just touchy?

"No, the guy in the video is someone random. Hey, doesn't he look kind of like exploding guy?"

"Peter Petrelli? You're right. It's uncanny." My spirits fell. Elle obviously had a type, and it was not me. I started to wonder what Adam the immortal looked like. My disappointment was apparent to Molly, who rested her head on my shoulder.

"What's the matter, Mohinder?"

"Nothing. I think I'm just tired," I lied. Then I remembered that she had been a bit quiet, too. "Is everything alright with you?"

"I'm fine. So… how was your date with Elle last night? She wouldn't tell me about it this morning."

"It was good. Is that what's wrong? Were you lonely last night? I'm sorry we both abandoned you."

"No, I didn't mind. I really wanted you guys to have fun. Do you think you'll go again soon?"

Her voice sounded hopeful. I hadn't realized she cared this much. "I don't think so, sweetie. It wasn't really a date, you know that, right? She's on her real date with Julien right now. I hope it's going well," I lied.

"Yeah, me, too," she mumbled, and then we both got back to work.

I was packing up my papers a few hours later when I heard voices outside the door. Molly had long gone to bed, and I felt like a trapped animal, standing there in the living room in my pajamas. I turned out the light so she hopefully wouldn't notice me. But I was too slow.

"You didn't have to wait up for me, you know. I'm a big girl." She sounded simultaneously annoyed and glad to have caught me. As she took off her coat, I saw that she was wearing an even nicer outfit than the one she had worn out with me. I wanted to pout, but repressed the urge.

"I was working," I snapped. "So, how did it go?"

"Amazingly! He took me to an art gallery opening. It was very Sex and the City. Mmm. And then to this grungy fish place for dinner. I thought dates were supposed to be fancy, but I liked the low-key even better. He even bought me flowers, but I accidentally left them in one of the taxis. I did exactly what you said and just asked him about himself all night. He seemed to like it, and we got along really well, and told me how glad he was to have met me. So, thanks, professor."

"Anytime," I replied, still not looking at her, and wondering if she had said those things on purpose to make me feel like my date was lesser. "See you in the morning."

That was obviously not torturous enough for her tastes, so she grabbed my arm as I tried to walk past her to the staircase.

"Don't you want to know what else happened?" she demanded suggestively.

"Not right now. I'm exhausted, and you can tell me all about it tomorrow," I said, and started up the stairs. I felt a stronger shock of lightening than usual hit the small of my back. I turned around to find her still standing at the foot of the staircase, a blue ball of light illuminating her scowling face in the dark. "Ow! What the hell was that for?"

She didn't respond.

******************************************

That day at work, I asked Yuko where I could find previous studies on a new vaccine I was looking to start working on. She was back to her old, inscrutably professional self, thank goodness. She sent me to a file storage facility in another building, where I spent the day looking through records. It was actually a great way to learn more about the company I was working for. The files were amazingly thorough, and in all sorts of languages, as Yamaguto had branches around the world. My Japanese was getting good enough to grasp the major points of the files. I felt a bit like I was back in university, sitting alone in a library. The afternoon flew by, and I was late picking Molly up from school.

When we got home, Elle was already there, on the floor in front of the hidden television in the lounge, and up to her elbows in DVDs.

"Hi, Elle. You're home early," I offered, as we came in. This was going to be our first evening back to regular interaction, and I wasn't sure how it would go. Without turning around, she sent a blue shock wave in the direction of my shoulder. We were back to normal, as if nothing had ever happened. But nothing _had_ happened, so that made sense.

"Hey guys," she said, still not looking, as Molly ran and jumped on her back.

"What are you watching?" she asked. "It looks old. And… not in English. Or Japanese." Elle was indeed watching a black and while film. I recognized Jean-Paul Belmondo and became very excited.

"You're watching _Breathless_! I love that film!" Without realizing what I was doing, I sat down next to Elle on the floor and grabbed a handful of her popcorn. She looked at me with wonder.

"You've seen this before? Great. Maybe you can tell me what the fuck is going on."

Before I could even get the words out, Molly pre-empted my response. "Language, Elle!" she mocked in a fake British accent. They grinned at one another.

"Yes, language!" I repeated, although I felt ridiculous. "You're still at the beginning, when it's a bit slow and doesn't make much sense. But it gets really good soon. Can we watch it together after dinner? There's a very famous bedroom scene…" I trailed off as a felt my face getting hot. "I mean, it's renowned as a breakthrough in French filmmaking."

"Fabulous!" she beamed, looking only at Molly. "That's why I'm watching it. Julien recommended all these French films, so I'm trying to bone up. He was going on about this one in particular, and I pretended to know what he was talking about. Anyway, I've been waiting for you guys to come home. I'm starved."

This was the first time that I didn't secretly love the fact that she was as fastidious as I am about mealtimes together. This evening, Molly grilled her on Julien. _Fucking_ Julien. What kind of clothes he wore, what kind of music he liked, what kind of job he had, where they went, what France was like, what his accent sounded like (_I have an accent, too!_ I wanted to scream). She certainly had taken my advice about asking him about himself all night. I felt like there was nothing about this guy that I didn't hear about over dinner. Leaving the table to watch a movie _he_ had recommended wasn't much fun either. I decided to retaliate by gushing at the beauty of Jean Seberg, the lead actress. After a few minutes, Elle looked at her tresses.

"She really is pretty cute. Should I cut all my hair off like hers? Be a pixie? Like Eden, only blonde?"

"No, don't do that. Your hair looks great as it is."

She smiled and was silent for a few minutes. During the next quiet section of the film (French films are laden with quiet sections), I felt like I should say something.

"So, judging from your conversation with Molly, you seem to really like this guy. You said you're going out again in a couple of days."

"Yeah, that's why I'm trying to watch a few of these in the next couple of days. He called today and said he had such a great time that he has a whole bunch of ideas for dates."

"Wow, that sounds serious."

"Yeah," she said.

We watched another film, breaking up the silence only with occasional laughter, before I remembered to tell her about my findings in the storage room that day.

"Elle, I think I found out something interesting about Yamagotu Industries today. Something company-related. Do you remember Bob ever talking about company facilities in Japan or India?"

Elle involuntarily hitched her breath, as she always did when her father was brought up. "He talked about Kaito Nakamura from time to time, but not often. And he only mentioned India in connection to you and your dad. Why?"

"I'm not sure yet, but about twenty years ago, research was done in Japan on the virus. It wasn't a dormant program waiting for Adam to escape. Someone manufactured strains like the one Niki and Sylar while he was imprisoned. Someone made them here. The younger Nakamura's don't seem to know anything about it, because the lab was called something else. But the files are there."

"What about India?"

"Just before I left, I spotted a box labeled in Tamil. I'm going to try to go back as soon as I can and read. There is a lot of material, though, and I don't know how long it'll take or where it's going."

"Interesting. Let me know if you need any help."

******************************************

My cell phone ringing was a strange sound in the emptiness of the file storage room. It took me a little while to find it.

"Hey, Mohinder! I knew you were there, even though ice queen said you weren't."

"Actually, this time she was telling the truth. I'm not at work."

"Still reading your files?"

The joy of hearing a voice in this lonely room, even through the phone, made me realize what a recluse I had been of late. I had been spent every moment I could in there during the past ten days. During work, after work, whenever I could. The great mystery of the old files had gotten deeper. Although Kimiko and Hiro had no idea about it, Yamagotu had been the front for a lot of dangerous scientific experimentation over the years. Genetics, weather control---there was a lot going on. Matt knew I was working on this information, and I was secretly glad to be able to send him reports with updates. Even though everything I was learning about took place in the past, I still felt like I was helping the cause.

I hadn't seen much of Molly or Elle in days. For the first time ever, we'd had to hire a babysitter for Molly, because Elle had been going out on a lot of dates, and there was no one to pick her up from school. I felt like a bad father, but Molly understood my need to do something useful on the company front. I hadn't had a real conversation with Elle in days, except for brief synopses of my research in the morning or when she blew in late at night. In addition to being fascinated by the work, I was glad to have something to take my mind off my little domestic non-drama.

But all the same, hearing Elle's voice like this made me realize that I was lonely. I had an idea. "I'd actually want to take you up on your offer of help, if you can spare the time. I've finished the English boxes, but there's a whole section of Japanese files left to go through, and I'm the only one who can read these Tamil ones. Are you doing anything tonight? Would you mind coming over?"

There was a pause as it seemed like she was trying to come to grips with a decision, although I didn't see what was so difficult.

"I'll see you there after class. I'll bring some takeout and ask one of Molly's friend's moms to drop her off at the house."

"Thanks, Elle. See you soon." I grinned. For someone who had been brought up in a near-prison by a company of sociopaths, Elle was surprisingly responsible---and good company, to boot. She showed up a couple of hours later, just as my stomach was beginning to rumble.

"Wow, this place is even bleaker than I imagined," she said as she sat down next to me on the dusty floor and started arranging the sushi containers. "You must feel right at home, _nerd_."

"Well, yes, a bit," I said sheepishly. "Thanks for coming by. It's such a big help. I'm lucky you didn't have plans this evening."

She looked a bit distracted and murmured assent. "What do you need me to do?"

"Well, I've gotten as far as the company's first efforts at looking for a virus, but have yet to figure out where the thread goes. Can you tackle the Japanese boxes while I start on the India files?"

"No problem."

We sat in comfortable silence for awhile.

"My files end here," she chirped after a few hours. "But there's a note that the research on Sylar's strain was continued in India." She turned one last page and turned pale.

"Mohinder. I think the virus came from your sister."

"What?" I leaned over her shoulder. She was reading a bio about my family and my sister that was signed by Adam Monroe. We gaped at each other.

"My files say that everything was moved to India, too. That means that Adam went there and somehow took it out of my dying sister."

"What should we do?"

"I… I have to go to India and find the rest of these documents. Talk to people involved. I should go right away. This could be huge for Matt and Peter and Nathan."

"Like, tomorrow?" She sounded sad.

"Yes. Like tomorrow. Maybe I'll take Molly with me, to make it seem like I'm just there for family reasons. And… so my mother will have less of an incentive to waste my time on setting me up with a nice Indian girl. I should call Yuko and ask her to set up the travel."

"How are you going to explain that to her?"

"We have a branch in Chennai. My ex-fiancée runs it, as it turns out. She'll be one of the people I have to talk to."

"Your… fiancée…"

I absent-mindedly left her with that thought as I blundered out to a place with better reception to call Yuko.

******************************************

After packing up and deciding which files to take with us, Elle and I strolled quietly down our block, just as we had only over a week before, but this time without the alcohol or the nervousness.

"Wow, you're really going to India tomorrow." She sounded nonplussed.

"Yes, it's strange, isn't it? It's been almost a year since I've been there, and so much has happened. It will be nice to introduce Molly to my mother but I don't know what to expect."

Elle looked at her feet. "Bring me back something pretty?"

I could tell she was disappointed.

"I'm so sorry, Elle. I really wish I could take you with me, introduce you to my friends---I do have friends back in India, you know---show you everything. It's just that… we don't know if anyone is looking for you… for us… and… I promise I'll take you next time."

"It's fine. Someone should hold down the fort. I've never had a house all to myself before. Maybe I'll throw a rager." She laughed. "Although it would be pretty hilarious to watch you try to explain to your mom how you've shacked up with a non-Indian girl in somebody else's house with somebody else's child." She stopped walking and turned to face me, leaning in close so she could whisper breathily in my ear. "You're living in sin, Mohinder," she giggled.

I'm not sure what came over me. I think it's because we were in a similar position to where we had been a week before. I had imagined so many do-overs in that time that I must have thought I was in yet another daydream. I leaned in and…

"Aww, fuck," she sighed into my face, her eyes looking somewhere else entirely. Before I knew it, she had slipped out of my arms and was running to the house. I followed where her eyes had been directed. One of the curtains in the living room windows facing the street was fluttering shut. A small black Audi was parked outside. I honestly had no idea what was going on. It was like a bad dream.

When I got inside, I was greeted by a strange sight. Yulia our maid, standing with Molly in the vestibule looking on as Elle was mauled by a reedy young man about my age with wavy dark hair. None of the women looked very happy about it.

The man was talking suavely into her hair. "What happened? We were supposed to go out tonight, but you never came. And when you didn't answer your phone, I started to worry. So here I am."

Since Elle was too overwhelmed to say anything, and he hadn't even noticed my arrival, Molly took it upon herself to make introductions.

She gave a little cough to get his attention. "Mohinder, this is Julien Delanay, Elle's, um, friend. Julian, this is my dad, Mohinder Suresh."

He smiled, but I instinctively hated him. Not because I was jealous either. He just had a bad vibe about him. I could see why Elle had been attracted to him, though. Objectively, he was a very good-looking young man, but there was something untrustworthy in his face. I stretched out my hand to shake his, but he just yanked Elle even closer to him and looked at me appraisingly. "Bonsoir," he smirked at me. "So you are the Indian scientist Elle lives with. I somehow imagined you differently. Older. Fatter. Balder. Just as I had imagined Molly as more… Indian?"

"Yes, well…" I couldn't think of a response. Damn him.

"Elle was about to pour me a glass of wine," he continued, relishing my discomfort.

"I was?" She looked up at him incredulously.

I hated seeing her like this. Cowering and submissive and unsure of herself. I'd seen her have a lot of reactions, but I'd rarely seen her _panic stricken_, which was ironic, given that she was the only reason he would be here.

"Yes, in the kitchen." He winked at me as he pushed her lightly in the direction of the door and gave her a little pat on the bottom. I clenched my fists and repressed a desire to strangle him.

"What have I told you about letting people in the house?" I whispered savagely to Molly.

"But he said he was Julien, looking for Elle, and he looked like the picture she showed me, so I thought it was alright," she whimpered. "Mohinder, I don't like him."

"Don't worry, honey. It'll be ok. You just head on upstairs. We have to go on an unexpected trip tomorrow morning. To India. You'll see where I grew up. I have to take care of some work while we're there, but I think it will be fun."

Her face brightened, troubles forgotten in a moment of childish selfishness. "India! Cool!" She almost knocked me over in a bear hug.

"Yes, yes, now you go upstairs. Ask Yulia to help you pack a bag for four days in a hot climate. And make sure you put nice clothes in. I want you to look presentable for my mother."

"I get to meet your _mom_?"

"Yes. Now run along. I'm going to go check on Elle. I'll see you first thing in the morning." I smiled happily as she bounded up the stairs. I turned to peep into the kitchen. He was mauling Elle again, aggressively pawing her and trying to get into her clothes, and she was squirming very uncomfortably. I knew something was wrong, and it was confirmed when he bit her shoulder hard enough to make her yell and try to push away. She knew better than to use electricity, but without it, she was no match for him. The scene was wrong in every sense of the word.

"Leave her alone!" I yelled.

"Mind your own business."

I did something I've never done before. I punched him in the face. It felt great. At least, until he staggered back to his feet and tried to wrestle me to the ground.

"Hey!" Elle yelled, as I pummeled him.

"Putain! Qu'est-ce que c'est que ce bordel?" he roared.

"Get out." I dragged him towards the front door.

"I saw you through the window," he hissed at me. "I know what's going on. Don't worry, she's all yours, the frigid little bitch."

"Va te faire foudre," I snarled. I gave him another satisfying punch to the face before slamming the door on him.

I went back into the kitchen, where I found Elle crumpled in a heap on the floor, sobbing. Molly was usually the one to comfort Elle when she was upset, so I was at a bit of a loss. I crawled down next to her and shifted her gently so that I could sit behind her---around her, with one leg thrown over hips and one of her arms around my shoulder. It was a complicated position. She just let me maneuver her into it, though, sobbing all the while. I knew there was more going on that just what had happened. It was Bob, and the gaps in her childhood memories, and everything. I let her have her cry, hugging her close and rubbing her shoulders.

"So what happened last night?" I asked, when the sobs had finally subsided into sniffles.

"What do you think happened?" She whimpered into my shoulder.

"I'm going to kill that son-of-a-bitch," I growled, feeling scarily Sylar-like.

"No, no, it really wasn't that bad. I short-circuited his apartment and slipped out in the dark when I realized what was up. Nothing actually happened, but it would have. I just freaked out. We were supposed to go out tonight, and I didn't know how to get out of it, so I just tried disappearing. I didn't think he would think we were still on after I ran away like that last night. I never thought he would come to the house. I'm so sorry." She snuggled in so close that I could feel the dampness of her face wetting my neck.

"Why didn't you tell me? We were together for hours today and you didn't say a word."

"I dunno. Just wanted to pretend nothing was wrong. That's what I've been doing all week."

"This has been going on for a week?!?"

"No, I just sort of felt that something was off, but I didn't know how to make the whole thing stop. Maybe he isn't actually a douche. The problem is that I can't tell. I thought I knew what I wanted. I wanted a normal sort of romance with someone who isn't in a cell. But I don't really know what normal is. I think I got in over my head. Maybe I should have started off with teenage boys, you know, on the same experience level."

"Or maybe just someone who isn't a stranger," I murmured, hoping she would understand.

"Yeah, but…" I knew she was about to say something clueless about not having anyone who wasn't a stranger, so I started kissing her earlobe. It was there, just under my lips, asking to be kissed, so I did it.

"I know this is probably completely the wrong time," I whispered into her ear, stroking the hair away, "especially after everything that just happened a few minutes ago, but…" I paused when she started to turn in my arms to face me.

She smacked me. Hard.

"Don't pity kiss me!"

"I'm not! I was about to kiss you outside the house a few minutes ago. Or did you not notice?"

"Right," she shrugged sheepishly. "You were saying?"

"You really don't make it easy, Elle." Before she could say or do anything else to weaken my resolve, I leaned forward and kissed her nose, as a kind of warm-up. When she didn't flinch, I slid my lips down to her mouth and gathered her in close to me, as gently as possible. She was tense and hesitant for a second, but then kissed me back. We stayed on the kitchen floor like that for awhile; I'm not sure how long. We finally came up for air, and I wiped away some of her residual tears. I cradled her head in my hands and she played with one of my curls.

"You were really badass," she grinned.

"Well, you know me," I grinned, rather pleased with myself.

"Yeah, I do. That's why I'm so shocked." We stuck our tongues out at each other, and ended up bringing them to touch. She became a little more serious. "So… what's happens now?"

"Well, nothing really, since I'm leaving tomorrow. But when I get back… whatever you want," I told her. "You can think about it while I'm gone."

"Oh. Your trip. I forgot." She started to sit up on her own. Without her snuggled against me, I suddenly felt cold. We both started to stretch our limbs. When she stood up, I followed her lead.

"This is ok, right? We're ok?" She was looking at me strangely as we made our way upstairs. I had been afraid this would happen.

"Why wouldn't we be?" she asked stiffly.

"I don't know. No reason."

We stood awkwardly outside our bedroom doors.

"I probably won't see you in the morning," she said quietly.

"Probably not," I replied, and grabbed her again, a little more assertively this time. She kissed back more hesitantly than the first time, but then eased into it. When I finally released her, she gave me a mysteriously sad smile.

"Don't get killed," she said, and went into her room without another word.

Strange, to the last.


End file.
